- By Nidhi Giri
- Mon, 01 Jul 2024 06:50 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
Delhi Weather: The torrential rain that brought Delhi to its knees last week was not a result of a cloudburst, the India Meteorological Department clarified on Monday. Addressing a press conference, IMD chief Mrutyunjay Mohapatra said the Safdarjung Observatory, the city's primary weather station, recorded 91 mm rainfall between 5 am and 6 am on June 28. Similarly, the Lodhi Road weather station logged 64 mm from 5 am to 6 am and 89 mm from 6 am to 7 am.
"These do not warrant to be declared as cloudbursts, but it was very close to a cloudburst," Mohapatra said.
Explaining the reason behind the extreme weather event, the IMD had earlier said multiple large-scale monsoonal weather systems created conditions for mesoscale convective activity over Delhi NCR, resulting in intense thunderstorms and heavy rainfall during the early hours of June 28.
This activity was supported by thermodynamic instability in the atmosphere, which is favourable for thunderstorms.
The Safdarjung Observatory recorded 228.1 mm of rainfall in the 24 hours ending at 8.30 am on Friday, more than three times the June rainfall average of 74.1 mm and the highest for the month in 88 years -- since 1936. The IMD defines very heavy rain as rainfall amounting to between 124.5 and 244.4 mm in a day.
Monsoon 2024
India received 11 per cent less rainfall than normal in June, as per data released by IMD on Monday. According to the data, the country recorded 147.2 mm of rainfall as against 165.3 mm, the normal for the month, news agency PTI reported.
The central, north-western and north-eastern parts of the country experienced 14 per cent, 33 per cent, and 13 per cent below-average rainfall, respectively, in June, the IMD said. The data suggests that the June rainfall this year was the seventh lowest since 2001.
Monsoon In India: June Rainfall Pattern
Normally, in June, India receives 15 per cent of the total precipitation of 87 cm it records during the four-month monsoon season. "The country recorded 16 days of below-normal rainfall activity -- from June 11 to June 27 -- which led to overall below-normal precipitation," Mrutyunjay Mohapatra said.
The monsoon has covered nearly all parts of the country and will reach the remaining parts of the northern states of Rajasthan, Haryana and Punjab in the next two to three days, ahead of the usual schedule, Mohapatra added.
(With Agency Inputs)